A Computer Numerical Control machine (“CNC machine”) is a type of computerized workshop device that can replace more conventional workshop machines. CNC machines are able to perform many common shop jobs such as drilling, milling and turning—and they can do it all automatically, creating any shape a machine operator defines.
CNC machines are computer programmed to perform all the tasks a human would have had to do on a manual machine, as well as many tasks that humans simply aren'table to do. Whether it's cutting a complicated curve into a heavy steel plate, or shaping a resin block into a three-dimensional prototype with laser cutting or milling, CNC machines can do it faster and with greater accuracy than other types of machines.
In modern CNC machine systems, an end-to-end component design is highly automated using sophisticated software programs, such as Computer Aided Drawing (“CAD”) programs. The programs produce a computer file that is interpreted to extract the commands needed to operate a particular machine (e.g. whichever commands are appropriate for the tools inside that machine), and then loaded into the CNC machine for production. The workpiece, for example the heavy steel plate or resin block mentioned above, is placed in the machine, in a large compartment behind a closed door, where the various tools inside the machine can work on it to create the desired part. The complex series of steps needed to produce any part is highly automated, and produces a part that closely matches the original CAD design.
As with many workshop devices, CNC machines can have various safety features. Because of the kinds of tools involved, the speed at which they can operate inside the CNC machine, the automatic nature of the CNC machine, and the CNC machine's sheer size, these machines can inherently possess a number of safety hazards.